"Start!"
The match had already begun, yet neither of them rushed forward, and for a brief moment, the arena remained still as both sides moved with clear intent rather than impatience.
Chatel was the first to act.
He raised his hand slightly, and a large magic circle unfolded behind him, expanding layer by layer with a steady and heavy presence.
The structure was not made for speed, but for stability, and as it continued to form, the ground beneath his feet began to change. A dark layer spread outward across the arena floor, gradually thickening as it extended, and the terrain started to respond under his control.
He did not move from his position. His focus remained entirely on the casting.
Knox moved at the same time.
Several streams of water formed in front of him, condensing quickly into sharp projectiles that shot forward one after another. Each arrow took a slightly different path, some curving mid-flight, others adjusting their angle at the last moment instead of traveling in a straight line.
They were not meant to break through.
They were meant to test.
The moment they reached Chatel, the terrain in front of him responded automatically. The darkened ground lifted just enough to intercept the attacks, forming a rough barrier that absorbed the impact.
The arrows shattered into scattered droplets, spreading across the surface instead of piercing through.
Knox did not stop there.
More water gathered, but instead of forming another wave of arrows, it condensed into multiple small spheres that hovered briefly in the air. They did not move together.
Instead, they spread out, drifting across the arena in uneven paths, some rising higher before curving downward, others circling outward before gradually closing in again.
Their movement was irregular. Unpredictable.
Several of them approached Chatel from different directions at once, while others passed by entirely, only to return from behind or from the sides, forcing the terrain around him to respond repeatedly as small sections of earth rose to block each incoming point of contact.
The impacts themselves were not strong.
But they were constant.
And they did not stop.
More spheres continued to form and move, weaving through the air and across the arena, striking not only toward Chatel, but also the ground itself, breaking apart and leaving moisture behind wherever they landed.
The battlefield began to change.
Water spread across the surface in scattered layers, some visible where the light reflected off it, others already seeping into the soil, especially in the areas where Chatel's control was most active.
Chatel continued his casting without interruption.
The magic circle behind him expanded further, and the darkened terrain responded more strongly, lifting in larger sections now as the ground in front of him rose again, this time forming a heavier mass that pressed forward with more weight than before.
Knox adjusted his control.
The water spheres did not slow down. Instead, their movements became more deliberate, some tightening their paths as they circled closer, while others shifted their timing, striking in staggered intervals rather than all at once.
Each impact spread more water. Each movement added to the field.
The arena floor was no longer dry. And that change began to show.
Above them, the mana projector flickered slightly as the system registered the accumulated damage.
[Chatel Mayer: 88%]
The number had dropped.
Not from a single strike.
But from everything that had been building since the beginning.
Knox did not react to it.
He continued moving, guiding the flow of water across the arena, maintaining pressure without forcing a direct clash, while Chatel's casting continued to deepen, the ground beneath him growing heavier, denser, and more responsive with each passing second.
The distance between them remained the same.
But the arena was no longer normal.
The number on the mana projector had changed, and although it was not a large drop, it was enough to draw attention from those who had been watching closely from the start.
Among the professors, the change on the mana projector did not go unnoticed. It wasn't the amount of damage that drew their attention, but the reason behind it, because it was clear to them that Knox had done it on purpose.
Jane was the first to realize.
Because among the professors there, Jane is the one who spent the most time with Knox, so of course Jane realized it first.
If she didn't realize this, she would be unqualified to be called a big sister!
Jane had been watching quietly for a while, her eyes still following Knox's movements across the arena. Then, the corner of her lips curved slightly.
"Heh, still sly as ever."
Bahil didn't look away from the field when he replied, his arms loosely crossed as if he had already come to the same conclusion.
"Yeah. He started doing that from the very beginning," he said. "Those attacks weren't meant to land clean. He must have reasons to do that."
Silage's focus was elsewhere, his gaze lowered slightly toward the arena floor rather than the exchange itself.
"The way Knox fights using water is a bit similar to students who use Haematology techniques."
"Hahaha, it will be more interesting if both of them use their bodies more!" said Hong Feng.
Meanwhile, Aaron just stared silently, fully focused on the match.
None of them sounded surprised.
If anything, they sounded like they were confirming that Knox had been planning something from the beginning.
Not far from them, Lorain remained seated, her attention fixed entirely on Knox.
She hadn't reacted when the damage showed.
She hadn't reacted to the earlier exchanges either.
Because besides focusing her gaze on Knox 100%, she also noticed that Knox had been planning something.
"As expected of Knox." she said quietly.
Serene, sitting beside her, let out a soft breath, her usual relaxed expression still in place, though her eyes stayed on the arena.
"Hehe, even the way he fights is quite sly, like a fox~" said Serene.
Lorain didn't respond, not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't want to miss Knox's moment even for a single second!
The next exchange came without pause.
Several of Knox's water constructs shifted at once, their movement tightening before converging from different directions. Some curved sharply mid-air, others dipped low before rising again, their timing deliberately staggered so that no single point of defense could handle everything at once.
They closed in.
At that exact moment, a layer of pitch-black jet black (darkness) spread across Chatel's body.
It formed instantly, thin at first, then thickened precisely at the points where the attacks were about to land. Each incoming strike was met with that same controlled response, the membrane reinforcing itself only where necessary, absorbing and dispersing the force rather than clashing against it directly.
The impacts followed one after another.
The majority were neutralized.
But not all of them.
A few fragments slipped through the gaps, striking his body just enough to register.
Above the arena, the mana projector flickered.
[Chatel Mayer: 86%]
Despite the continuous attacks, it had barely changed.
For a brief moment, the stands fell into a short silence.
Then—
voices broke out almost at the same time.
"Whoa… he blocked all that and only dropped that much?"
"That defense is insane."
"As expected of Chatel Mayer!"
The reactions spread quickly, the earlier tension shifting into something closer to excitement as more eyes focused on the arena.
Down below, Chatel remained unmoved.
As if none of it mattered.
He simply brought his palms together.
A sharp, grating sound tore through the air.
Screeeeeek—!
The magic circle behind him completed.
Without hesitation, he lowered the circle.
The moment it touched the ground—
he stomped.
A heavy impact spread outward from beneath his foot, the force traveling across the arena floor in an instant.
Then, everything changed.
Whoooosh—!
The influence of the magic circle spread in all directions, swallowing the original color of the arena as black overtook the ground entirely. It didn't stop halfway, nor did it slow down, expanding until every inch of the battlefield had been dyed in pitch-black.
The arena no longer resembled solid ground.
It looked like something painted. An ink-washed world.
[Chatel Mayer Original - Domain Reversal]
A shadow fell across the field.
Then—
the ground moved.
Fragments of the arena floor tore free and rose into the air, hovering for the briefest moment before crashing down in a scattered barrage. At the same time, sections of the ground shifted unpredictably, rising, collapsing, and pulling inward as if the terrain itself had come alive.
The entire field had changed.
And at the center of it—
stood Chatel.
For a split second, the stadium fell silent. Then the reactions came all at once.
"W-What is that…?!"
"The entire arena…!"
"That's his technique—!"
"No way… how do you even fight something like that?"
The murmurs spread quickly, some voices filled with excitement, others already sounding convinced of the outcome.
Not far from the front rows, Group 7 and Group 8 were staring at the arena, their expressions visibly shaken.
"…What the hell is that?" Rick muttered, his eyes fixed on the field.
Cindy leaned forward slightly, her usual energy gone for once. "The ground… it's completely under his control now."
Claudia didn't say anything, but the way her hands tightened slightly made it clear she wasn't taking this lightly.
Meilyn bit her lip, her gaze locked onto Knox. "This… isn't something you can just dodge forever…"
Even Cami, who usually tried to stay composed, looked uneasy as she followed the shifting terrain.
Among the professors, the change drew quieter reactions.
One of them let out a low, impressed breath.
"…Hoo."
Another's eyes widened slightly, just for a moment, before returning to normal as they continued watching.
Hong Feng's smile grew a bit wider, clearly entertained.
Bahil's gaze sharpened, now fully focused on how the field had transformed.
Only Jane remained the same. Her expression didn't change. Her eyes stayed on Knox, calm and steady, as if she wasn't concerned in the slightest.
Meilyn's attention shifted for a moment.
Something felt off.
Not the arena.
Not the pressure.
But—
the people beside her.
She glanced toward Lorain.
Then Serene.
Both of them were watching the arena just as intently, yet neither of them looked worried.
No tension. No hesitation. If anything, they looked… certain.
"…Huh?" Meilyn frowned slightly, her brows knitting together.
Why…?
Why were they so calm?
Back in the arena, the blackened ground shifted again.
Fragments rose.
Then fell.
The terrain twisted under its new rules.
And within that field—
Knox stood alone.